1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-processor including a plurality of processor elements.
2. Description of the Related Art
Patent reference 1 (Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2004-356850) discloses a compressed moving image encoding apparatus including a software unit which decompresses compressed moving image data by software, a data storage unit which stores the moving image data processed by the software processing unit, and a hardware processing unit which performs compression processing for moving image data in the data storage unit by using hardware.
Patent reference 2 (Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-27986) discloses a data processing apparatus including a software processing unit which implements predetermined data processing by using software, and a hardware processing unit which implements predetermined data processing by using hardware.
Patent reference 3 (Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2000-115277) discloses an arrangement including a first codec formed by hardware and a second codec which performs encoding/decoding by executing software.
Patent reference 4 (Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 9-84004) discloses a technique of using microprocessors capable of parallel processing to process a portion including many complicated computations and using hardware including a block loader or a VLC decoder to perform processing which is relatively simple but is essentially difficult to parallelize.
Patent reference 5 (Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2005-70938) discloses a signal processing apparatus which implements a high throughput and high flexibility by load distribution using software and hardware in signal processing using an image compression/decompression algorithm with a large processing amount.
With the recent popularization of terrestrial digital broadcasting and BS high-definition broadcasting, video data associated with these broadcastings are processed by DVD recorders, personal computers, and the like. The number of software applications for processing video data such as terrestrial digital broadcasting and BS high-definition broadcasting data may tend to increase.
When a personal computer performs transcodec of converting video data compressed in a given format into video data compressed in another format, since the CPU (Central Processing Unit) performs processing for transcodec, the load concentrates on the CPU. The transcodec includes a decoding processing for encoded data encoded by a method such as mpeg2, H.264, or the like, and an encoding processing for decoded data by the decoding processing such as exchanging a specific format, bit rate, resolution, or the like.
When the CPU intensively processes transcodec, the processing speed of another software application executed by the CPU may decrease. In addition, as the load is applied to the CPU, it may become difficult to execute transcodec itself in real time.
When a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) is to perform transcodec, since the GPU is essentially a processor for computer graphics processing, the cost effectiveness of the processing to be executed decreases. In addition, as systems which handle video data, systems which use the video output functions of a chip set and include no GPU are widely used.